


Rhythm of the Heart

by lelepandewritium



Category: One Piece
Genre: Body Swap, Day 1, Heart, M/M, ZoLu Week, heart exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-14 11:50:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4563540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lelepandewritium/pseuds/lelepandewritium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is ANOTHER Zolu week entry i wrote that I ALSO forgot to post on here.  Woops.</p><p>Luffy has FINALLY convinced Law to use his powers to switch his body with someone else's!</p><p>Who should it be though?</p><p>Well, Zoro of course!</p><p>Despite it being fun, it does get a bit...depressing for them later on.</p><p>The beating in their chests isn't their own, and they'd miss it when it's gone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rhythm of the Heart

“Please.”

“No.”

“Please!”

“No!”

“PLEASE!”

“I SAID NO MUGIWARA-YA!”

Luffy whined, throwing his upper half across the kitchen table and pressing his cheek against the wood.

“But why not! I see you do it all the time when we fight marines!”

Law sighed in exasperation, glancing down at his lunch that consisted of three rice balls. He missed having peaceful lunches in his study room.

“Yes, to enemies. It’s not something I do for fun and games. I use it to throw people off and make an opening for myself while they try to reorient themselves.”

Luffy pouted, letting out small “Boo! boo!”’s as he kicked his feet, occasionally making contact with Law’s legs and irking the other pirate captain even more.

“But it sounds so fun! Pleeeaaase can you switch me with someone?! Anyone! Please! Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseple–”

“FINE! JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME EAT IN PEACE!”

Luffy beamed, immediately standing up and yelling out a quick ‘Thank you!’ before turning and running out the door, satisfied now that he got a yes from Law.

Law let his head fall into the palm of his hand, a deep sigh escaping him as he was finally allowed to relax in the silence of the kitchen.

Why did this captain have to be so hyper?

\--------------------------------------------

Once Luffy was out of the kitchen, he immediately began to wonder who he could possibly switch bodies with.

Well, the main question was who would LET him switch with them.

He remembers when some of them got switched, back in Punk Hazard, and he’s not sure they’d do it again.

On the other hand…

OH!

ZORO!

ZORO WOULD LET HIM!

Besides! Luffy would REALLY like to switch with Zoro, that would be so cool!

Grinning to himself, Luffy ran off to search for Zoro, finding him easily enough.

All he had to do was follow the strained voice that continued to count.

“2356, 2357, 2358, 2359, 236–”

“ZORO!”

Zoro fumbled with his weights, stopping mid count and turning his head slightly to look over at Luffy, eyebrow raising.

“Heyheyhey Zoro! So I asked Torao if he would switch my body with someone like he’s done before when we fight marines and like back in Punk hazard with Nami and Sanji and Franky and Chopper and he said that he would! And so I was wondering who I should switch with and I thought of you and wouldn’t it be AWESOME if we were in each others bodies that sounds SO COOL don’t you think and so–”

“Okay.”

Luffy blinked, stopping his excited rambling as he looked up at Zoro, tilting his head.

“Okay?”

Zoro shrugged, setting his weights down and rolling his shoulders a few times to get the slight ache that had built up to go away.

“Okay. Sounds interesting so, I’ll do it.”

The smile that blossomed onto Luffy’s face after he said that made Zoro’s heart jump into his throat, his breathing going a bit unsteady at the sheer brightness of it.

“Woooah! Thanks Zoro! It’ll be fun, just watch!”

Luffy laughed and launched himself at Zoro, fully expecting to be caught as soon as he collided with his swordsman.

He wasn’t disappointed.

Zoro smiled, immediately opening up his arms and catching Luffy, snorting at his captain’s excitement and deciding to just carry him off to search for Law.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

Luffy laughed again, wrapping his arms around Zoro’s neck and starting up his chatter once more, this time going on about the last island they had visited and how they didn’t have a huge variety of meats but that what he got to try was delicious anyways.

Zoro listened, grunting whenever Luffy paused to see if he was still listening and adding in his own two cents about the booze he tried over there.

Zoro ended up wandering around almost the entirety of the ship, Luffy never bothering to tell him that Law was in the kitchen, too engrossed with his storytelling to bother with it.

Besides, he liked being carried around.

Zoro found that he didn’t mind carrying Luffy for all this time either. He rather enjoyed it actually. It was a pretty calming exercise after he’d just finished lifting his weights. Well, after he was interrupted from lifting his weights.

It took him over 30 minutes, but Zoro eventually managed to make his way to the kitchen, unceremoniously kicking it open and stomping inside, stopping in front of Law and finally setting Luffy back down into his own two feet.

“Oi, switch us.”

Law looked up from sipping on his tea, annoyance clear in the way his left eyebrow began to twitch.

Might as well get this over it. Maybe then he’d be left in peace.

Sighing, he set his tea down on the table, stretching his arm out halfway and muttering ‘room’ under his breath.

A small bubble formed around the three, highlighting them in blue and making Luffy’s excitement grow at the knowledge of what was about to happen.

With one final sigh, Law stood up and pulled his sword from its sheath, stabbing at the air in front of their chests, mere centimeters away from actually making contact, and watched as they both jerked, their souls, if you’d like to call it that, emerging from their chests in the shape of a heart.

Boredly, he raised a hand, stretching out two fingers and flicking them with a soft ‘shambles’.

He immediately sat back down, letting the small room he’d created disappear as he picked his tea back up, ignoring the startled gasps that came from both Zoro and Luffy and the slight swaying that happened as they tried to get their senses back together.

“There, now leave me alone.”

Luffy blinked, a strangeness immediately filling him as he realised that he couldn’t open his, well, Zoro’s left eye. It hurt when he so much as tried.

It was strange, but he could get used to it.

The next thing that he actually noticed, or felt anyways, was the muscles.

He didn’t really have muscles with his body. His rubber powers pretty much prevented them from showing unless he purposefully tensed up his body so he could land a nice, strong punch.

Zoro was also filled with a slight edge of un-comfort, but it soon faded away into just plain curiosity.

He could see again, from both eyes. Well, Luffy’s eyes. He didn’t have that huge blind spot to his left anymore. He’d gotten used to it of course, to the point where it was like the blind spot didn’t exist, but still. Being able to see from both eyes again was pretty exhilarating.

The next thing that he became aware of was the itching coming from his chest.

It wasn’t an itch per se. It wasn’t even pain.

Frowning, Zoro lifted his–Luffy’s–hand up and gently laid it against the large scar on his chest.

It…was a constant burn. Not a bad one; it didn’t even hurt. It just felt that slight edge over too warm, like a summer day where all you wanted to do was lay under a tree in the shade because being under the sun was just too much.

The next thing they both became glaringly aware of was the beating in their chests.

It was different.

Of course, it wasn’t their own heart. It wasn’t the one they were born with and often ignored.

It wasn’t the one they knew and hardly even registered.

This heart had a different beat, a different rhythm, a different speed.

It was far more precious than their own.

They both stood there, completely stunned, a hand unconsciously raising itself to settle over their chests, each others chests, wanting to feel the beating under their hands as well as underneath their skin.

Finally, after a few minutes of silence, they turned to look at each other, one looking down and the other up.

In almost perfect unison, they both turned and walked out of the kitchen, letting the door shut gently behind them.

They walked down the steps and paused out on the deck, turning to one another and getting a look at their bodies, this time not from a mirror, not from a reflection in the ocean or in someone’s eyes.

They’re taking a look at themselves directly from a loved ones eyes.

Searching for what is appreciated, for what the other grew to love and cherish.

For the reason why they’re special.

Though, looking at themselves, all they find are flaws.

All they see are the mistakes.

All they see are their failures.

Always the one to brighten up moods before they could fall too far, Luffy smiled, the bright grin looking odd on Zoro’s face.

It did the trick though.

Zoro returned the smile, his smaller and more controlled, also looking odd on Luffy’s face, but that was fine.

They both knew who was really in there anyways.

“Zoro! This is really cool huh? You’re so TALL! And you have all these really awesome muscles!”

Luffy laughed, lifting up his arms and flailing them around, making it clear exactly which muscles he was talking about.

All Zoro could do was snort and shake his head.

“Yeah, well, I guess your body is pretty cool too. I mean, it feels really light. It’s hard to believe how strong you are.”

Luffy laughed, the loud bellow surprising him and making him laugh even more.

He’s heard the laugh plenty, but it was rare.

This was going to be great!

\--------------------------------------------

So, apparently, none of the crew was questioning them.

When Zoro and Luffy walked up to anyone, completely acting like themselves in the others body, everyone seemed to believe that Luffy had managed to convince Zoro to play impersonations with him for the day.

They knew that Zoro would do almost anything for Luffy.

And, well, Zoro admitted that that was true.

He would.

The only one who seemed to realize what was actually going on was Robin.

Zoro blamed her freaky senses.

Luffy was pouting. Zoro struggled on not pointing out how strange that looked on his face, and he more or less succeeded.

He couldn’t really judge seeing as how he was scowling while using Luffy’s face.

That probably looked pretty odd too.

“They’re so boring Zoro! They won’t say anything at all!”

Zoro shrugged, walking by Luffy’s side and yawning.

He hasn’t gotten the chance to take a nap yet.

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. We know that we’re in each others body and this isn’t really about freaking everyone out is it?”

Luffy frowned, tilting his head and tapping on his chin.

“Well, I guess not…but still. They could react a little bit.”

Luffy huffed, boredom quickly flowing into him.

He paused, beaming suddenly and turning to Zoro, jumping at him with a laugh.

“Carry me Zoro!”

Zoro reacted as he always did, opening his arms and catching Luffy easily, pleased that he was still capable of carrying Luffy even while being in his body.

Well, that wasn’t surprising. Luffy was as strong if not stronger than him.

Though, he would admit that carrying himself was pretty weird.

Plus, not being able to see where he was walking was a bit of a dilemma. But whatever.

“Yeah, yeah captain.”

Luffy laughed, reaching up and grabbing his hat from Zoro’s head and placing it on top of his own.

It felt different than usual, but that was expected.

He didn’t exactly have his own head right now.

Zoro walked around while carrying Luffy, the two chatting mindlessly, not at all noticing the odd looks being sent in their direction.

Now, this image was odd.

They couldn’t believe Zoro was willingly being carried around by Luffy.

\--------------------------------------------

Night time arrived far too soon for either of them.

Of course, they could stay in each others bodies for as long as they wanted.

They could continue to feel that beating in their chests that wasn’t their own.

But it was for the best if they switched back.

They didn’t want to run into marines and be useless to the crew, neither knowing how to fight in these bodies.

There was no guarantee that Law would be able to switch them back in time before something bad happened.

So, with frowns on both of their faces, they walked towards Law, a hand pressed against each of their chests as they tried to feel and memorize the rhythm of the others heartbeat.

“Law, switch us back.”

Those words were difficult for Zoro to get out, but it had to be done.

If he didn’t blurt it out like that, he wasn’t sure he would ever find the strength to say them.

Law looked up from the book he had borrowed from Robin, his eyes darting between the two and noticing the difficulty they seemed to be having.

His eyes landed on the hands they had placed on their chests, realisation of what was going on clicking into place.

He grunted, opening his hand and summoning up his ‘room’, repeating the movements he had done earlier that day and switching them back into their own bodies.

Zoro and Luffy startled, hands immediately clenching over their chests as a feeling of loss began to settle in.

“Thanks Torao…that was fun.”

Luffy looked over at Zoro, forcing a smile back onto his face.

“Neh Zoro?”

Zoro nodded, not bothering to look over at Luffy.

“Yeah, sure. Fun.”

Silence enveloped them.

Zoro bit the inside of his cheek, not sure what he should do now that he was back in his own body.

He already missed feeling the beat of Luffy’s heart. Feeling as Luffy’s heart beat so strongly, filling Luffy with life.

Zoro turned, prepared to leave and go continue lifting his weights.

But before he could, Law spoke, stopping him in his tracks and making him turn back around.

“I can switch your hearts if that’s what you want.”

Luffy blinked, looking away from Zoro and turning to Law, his expression puzzled.

“Switch our hearts?”

Law rolled his eyes, nodding his head slightly.

“Yes. You both look so pathetic. You obviously want to feel each others heart beats again and, well, I can switch them if that’s what you want.”

Zoro growled at the pathetic comment, anger flaring through him. What was so pathetic about wanting to feel that his captain was alive?

What was wrong with wanting to know that his captain was alive and breathing at all times?

“Yeah! Can you do that? I wanna do that! Zoro?”

Luffy turned to look at Zoro, a bright smile on his face and his eyes shining with hope.

Zoro swallowed, looking down at Luffy and not even trying to stop his own smile from appearing.

“Yeah, sounds like a good idea to me.”

Law huffed, the urge to smile rising inside him, but before it could happen, he squashed it down.

He immediately raised his sword again, not even waiting for either of them to say they were ready before cutting squares into their chests, holding both of their hearts in his hands within a few seconds.

Zoro cursed, taking a step back and glaring hatefully at Law, but he got over it rather quickly once he noticed the hearts in the man’s hands.

Luffy twitched, pressing a hand over the whole in his chest and letting out a short giggle.

Law shook his head, switching the hearts from one hand to the other and shoving them into place.

He immediately made his room disappear, turning and walking away from them.

“Enjoy, Mugiwara-ya, Zoro-ya.”

Zoro blinked, feeling the new skin on his chest. A piece of the scar Mihawk had made was gone, instead showing a patch of burned skin.

It was a piece of the wound Akainu had inflicted on Luffy.

Luffy did the same, looking down at his chest and smiling at the piece of Zoro’s scar he could see.

Most importantly, they both felt the heartbeat of the other.

Luffy felt the heartbeat of his first mate.

Zoro felt the heartbeat of his captain.

They felt the heartbeat of their most important person.

They had a piece of them within each other.

They had the others life with them.

And they would for the rest of their lives.

Luffy smiled, stepping up to Zoro and leaning against him, resting his forehead against the taller man’s shoulder.

“Shishishi! Now whenever we go off to fight in places we can’t see each other, we’ll always know that we’re both okay.”

Zoro huffed, wrapping his arms around Luffy tightly, pressing their chests together and feeling a deep satisfaction at the fact that he could feel both of their heartbeats at this moment.

“Yeah. You’re right. We’ll always know now.”

Zoro tapped the top of Luffy’s head with his chin.

“Sleep?”

Luffy nodded, burrowing his head into Zoro’s neck.

“Yeah, let’s sleep together today.”

Neither moved, Zoro waiting patiently for the next words that he knew was going to come out of Luffy’s mouth.

“Carry me Zoro!”

Zoro smiled, chuckling softly into Luffy’s hair.

“Aye aye, Captain.”


End file.
